Launch Pad’s tradition of writer success, includes projects sold to Netflix, Paramount, and more. Our Mentorship Prize features the writers of THE CONJURING, and SWEET HOME ALABAMA.
RAISED BY WOLVES | THE MARTIAN | GLADIATOR
“Writers are an integral part of my team and without them I would not be able to do my job, so to be able to work with Launch Pad and provide a new and innovative way for them to get their work out in the world is truly exciting.”
Manager & Producer, Energy Entertainment
“The numbers speak for themselves. Beyond the massive amount of writers who have landed reps from Launch Pad, no other has led to more sales and bidding wars in existence. And beyond that, the success isn’t just here, but these scripts have landed on every major end of year list. This place starts careers!”
The Launch Pad Competitions have led to more signings, success stories and careers than any other screenwriting competition. With a decade of experience in promoting up-and-coming writers, Launch Pad has firmly established itself as the premier hub for Hollywood to discover fresh voices and new ideas.
We advocate for all of our Top 100 finalists, working with them to share their work with the right industry members to advance their career. Our prestigious juries of industry members include managers, agents, producers and executives at companies across Hollywood.
We also offer exclusive partnerships with management and production companies to give writers an extra leg up. Through these partnerships, as well as our exclusive mentorship opportunities, we seek to provide as many avenues towards success as possible.
Enter now for a chance to join this tradition of Launch Pad success.
Launch Pad stands in solidarity with the WGA and its essential efforts to ensure fair compensation for writers.
We are committed to working with writers and the WGA to make sure that all rules and procedures of the strike are followed.
In order to support the guild and all writers who enter into our competitions, Launch Pad will not share writers’ work with struck companies for the duration of the strike. Wherever necessary, we will instead coordinate with finalists and winners to find alternate outreach post-strike in order to ensure that everyone gets the full Launch Pad experience as soon as we are able to do so.
Amanda Marshall
Independent | Producer
Amanda Marshall is producer who develops and produces independent films with up-and-coming filmmakers. Notable recent credits include Mike Birbiglia’s DON’T THINK TWICE; A24’s SWISS ARMY MAN, starring Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, for which she was nominated for a Spirit Award for Best First Feature; UNTITLED AMAZING JONATHAN DOCUMENTARY which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Hulu. She also executive produced Marielle Heller’s Spirit Award-winning THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL. Most recently she produced the Film Independent lab project THE TIME CASPULE and GOD’S COUNTRY, starring Thandiwe Newton, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where Marshall was the recipient of the Amazon/Sundance Institute Producers Award. She is currently in post on the independent television show UNCONVENTIONAL created by Kit Williamson, as well as an Executive Producer on the documentary SPLIT BY THE ROOT which premiered at SXSW. Marshall was previously President of production at Cold Iron Pictures and has been a mentor for the Sundance Institute and Film Independent. She is a member of the PGA and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and an At-Large member on the Executive Committee for the Producers Union.
Chris Tsui
Davis Entertainment | Film/TV Development
Davis Entertainment is the production company behind such films as JUNGLE CRUISE, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, SHAFT, GAME NIGHT and more. They also produce television series like MAGNUM PI, THE EQUALIZER, THE BLACKLIST and more.
Jasper Grey
The Vendetta Group | Manager & Producer
As the founder of The Vendetta Group, the creative enterprise has rapidly gained recognition for its groundbreaking strategies and emphasis on ethical business practices. Jasper’s motivation to transform the industry sprang from his observation that Hollywood was stuck in a vicious cycle of outdated business models and a lack of fundamental values. By instilling such values in every aspect of the company’s operations, he has spearheaded a movement to change the industry one conversation, project, or deal at a time. Since its inception in 2019, The Vendetta Group has achieved an impressive track record, having successfully sold and closed deals with most, if not every, network, streamer, or studio on behalf of its esteemed writer and director clients. Recently, Jasper also served as Executive Producer on the indie dramedy, 5 Years Apart, which was distributed on Hulu.
Jon Hersh
Housefire Management | Literary Manager
Jon Hersh is an independent literary manager working with writer and writer/director clients in film and TV. Jon created Housefire Management in 2017 with the intent of finding bold voices with incendiary material. Since then, his clients have gone on to develop film and TV projects with Universal, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount Players, AMC, Nickelodeon, Spyglass, and many others. His clients are regularly on the annual Black List, and in 2022 his client was #1 on the list. Before breaking into management, Jon was a Development Executive at Broad Green Pictures, a fledgling film financier and distributor. During his tenure, he had a hand in developing a slate of quality projects for the 90+ employee company, delivering detailed project notes to writers. Before working in development, Jon began his career at Creative Artists Agency where he worked as a full-time story analyst for four years. While there, he evaluated thousands of screenplays, pilots, and books, and gave detailed story notes to high-level clients of the agency. He is an alumnus of USC's School of Cinematic Arts program and currently resides in West Hollywood with his wife and two sons.
Karen Glass
Everywhere Studios | EVP, Development
As head of development for EveryWhere Studios, Karen oversees their slate of television and movie projects. The company’s slate includes both tv and film projects in a variety of genres. Prior to joining Everywhere Studios, Ms. Glass ran her own production shingle, Glassworks Entertainment. Under this banner, she produced the Nickelodeon original television movie SWINDLE, developed several television movies for Lifetime and is currently developing THE BATTLE OF VERSAILLES at HBO Films with director Ava DuVernay. She also developed a Peanuts animated movie, THE BEAGLE HAS LANDED, CHARLIE BROWN for Warner Bros, as well as a live-action DORA THE EXPLORER for Nick Jr. Karen began her career at the Walt Disney Studios working in all facets of motion picture development, production, marketing and distribution. As Executive Vice President of Development and Production, she launched, developed and supervised movies including THE PRINCESS DIARIES, FREAKY FRIDAY, STEP UP, ICE PRINCESS, and THE SANTA CLAUSE 2. Other credits include: TUCK EVERLASTING, THE PRINCESS DIARIES 2, THE SHAGGY DOG and HERBIE FULLY LOADED. These films cumulatively grossed over one billion dollars at the domestic box office and critically redefined the Disney brand for a new generation of tweens and families.
Katrina Wolfe
AG Studios USA | President of Production
Katrina Wolfe is a producer and executive who served for a number of years as SVP of Production & Casting for the Dimension Films division of Miramax/TWC. While at Dimension, Katrina worked closely with such filmmakers as Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Terry Gilliam, David Zucker, Terry Zwigoff, Frank Darabont, and many others. Since 2012, Katrina has been partnered with Alex Garcia at AG Studios, where she has produced several acclaimed features including Nightingale (HBO Films), executive produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, for which she received Emmy and Critics’ Choice nominations (Best Movie). The picture also won a Critics’ Choice award and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor for David Oyelowo. Katrina's other producing credits include Captive starring Kate Mara (Paramount), Spivak with Michael Cera (Netflix), Reversal (aka Bound to Vengeance/IFC), which was chosen as the opening film in the Midnight section at Sundance Film Festival, and The Big Bend, which premiered at the Austin International Film Festival in 2022. Katrina’s upcoming projects include Hello Human starring Matthew Broderick and a biopic of Warhol superstar Candy Darling that will star Hari Nef.
Marc Manus
World Builder Entertainment | Manager/Partner
Marc Manus is a former award-winning photojournalist who attended USC film school before entering the field of artist representation. His first job was with manager Cathryn Jaymes, who represented Academy Award-winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino, among others. Over the last fifteen years, Marc has held positions at various management companies including, most recently, Zero Gravity (Netflix’s OZARK). Now, as a partner at World Builder Entertainment, the company behind the TROLLS animated feature franchise, Marc continues to guide a select roster of creators from around the globe who have film and television projects at the major networks, streamers and studios.
Michael Masukawa
Bold Soul Studios | Literary Manager, Producer
Michael Masukawa is a Literary Manager and Producer, the Head of Literary at Bold Soul Studios. He has Executive Produced feature films including FRANSGIVING, 4/20, ROSÉ ALL DAY and the documentary GAME GONE WILD: THE SOCKER SLAM STORY. He also produced the VR narrative project THE GREAT C. Formerly, Michael was a television development executive at Sonar Entertainment, where he was the studio executive behind THE SHANNARA CHRONICLES, THE SON and more. He also worked in television development and current programming at ABC TV Studios and Bad Robot, after starting his career in the ICM mailroom.
Rebecca Cammarata
Stay Gold Features | Head of Production and Development
Rebecca Cammarata is the Head of Production and Development for Stay Gold Features. Cammarata is an Executive Producer on Hallie Myers-Shyer's upcoming feature GOODRICH starring Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis. She Executive Produced Nikole Beckwith's TOGETHER TOGETHER starring Ed Helms and Patti Harrison, which was nominated for Independent Spirit Awards; Kasi Lemmons’ HARRIET, which was nominated for two Oscars; and Alma Har’el’s HONEY BOY, which was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards. She Co-Produced the 2021 release JOE BELL, starring Mark Wahlberg and Connie Britton, which premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. Prior to joining Stay Gold, Cammarata was the Creative Executive at Jake Gyllenhaal's company Nine Stories Productions where she worked closely with producer Riva Marker on David Gordon Green's STRONGER, Paul Dano's directing debut WILDLIFE, and the 2017 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Before Nine Stories, Cammarata was an executive at Red Crown Productions and her credits there include BEASTS OF NO NATION, HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS, and THE FAMILY FANG.
Ross Marian
13 Films | VP of Creative & Operations
Ross Marian started his career at Voltage Pictures as the assistant to Academy Award winning producer Nicholas Chartier working on films such as Dallas Buyers Club and Don Jon. He then joined 13 Films in their first year of operation and has grown with the company over his decade-long tenure and currently serves as their VP of Creative & Operations. 13 Films is a worldwide sales and finance company based in Beverly Hills founded by sales veteran Tannaz Anisi. They work closely with filmmakers to assist in the packaging and financing of commercially viable projects both in film and television. A few highlights from their catalog include Every Breath You Take starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan and Sam Claflin, Four Kids and It, a family adventure starring Michael Caine, Russel Brand, Matthew Goode and Paula Patton, and The Current War starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Tom Holland.
Ian Malone
Neshama Entertainment | Director of Development
Ian Malone is Vice President of Production & Development at Neshama Entertainment, where he makes original films for Fox's streaming serviceTubi. He previously worked as a senior story editor and executive producer on series for Netflix, CBBC, The CW, Nickelodeon, and the CBC, among others. His past credits include Degrassi: The Next Generation, the BAFTA Award-winning The Next Step, and original films The Manny, Mistletoe Time Machine, and Meet The Killer Parents. He was also nominated for a Writers Guild Of Canada Award for his work on Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil. He lives in Toronto.
Holly Ren
Campfire Studios | Development Coordinator, Scripted Content
Holly Ren works with the team at Emmy-winning production company Campfire Studios to create insightful stories in both the non-scripted and scripted space. After graduating from Duke University, where she created and collaborated on various film projects, she worked as a film festival coordinator for an independent feature documentary, helping it screen in festivals all across the globe. Recent projects produced by Campfire include HBO Max Originals The Way Down, Heaven’s Gate and Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty, Netflix's Neymar, the Emmy-winning Hulu documentary WeWork, two seasons of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated scripted series Special, the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi and much more. Campfire is currently in post-production on the Netflix Original Film Players, starring Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr, and Tom Ellis, and is developing a scripted series adaptation for The Way Down with HBO Max starring Emmy winner Sarah Paulson.
We are committed to helping writers take meaningful steps in their career, and there is nothing more important in developing your craft than thorough, in-depth notes from a trusted source. We are proud to offer our Feedback Notes program, providing 1-2 pages of in-depth notes on your competition entry, with insight into the story, characters, and writing of your project.
Enter with FeedbackEverything the Top 10 receive, plus…
Everything the Top 50 receive, plus…
Everything the Top 100 receive, plus…
Michelle Askew signed with a Literary Manager at Fourth Wall after he discovered her and her work through the Launch Pad Feature Competition.
Launch Pad Feature Finalist Robert Park signed with a literary manager at Lee Stobby Entertainment.
Wilandrea Blair signed with a Literary Manager at Romark Entertainment after they discovered her through the Launch Pad Feature Competition.
After placing in the Top 10 of the Launch Pad Feature Competition, Taylor Hopkins signed with a literary agent at Verve.
Andy signed with manager Nelson Cole via Launch Pad's promotion of her Feature Competition finalist script.
Requires Add-On or Top 10 placement
The best way to learn is by working with experienced writers who have already navigated that path to success. That is exactly what the Launch Pad exclusive mentorship opportunity is set up to do.
Identical twin brothers Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes have been mainstays of feature film writing since 2005, having written such films as HOUSE OF WAX, WHITE OUT and THE REAPING before creating THE CONJURING Franchise for Warner Brothers. They also wrote the screenplay for 2020’s THE TURNING and are working on projects for Fox, Sony, Mark Gordon’s eOne Entertainment, Universal/Amblin and more.
Doug is best known for writing the original screenplay for SWEET HOME ALABAMA. He also co-wrote prequel novels about the teenage adventures of the characters from the movie as well as the original novel TOTALLY RAD WORMHOLE. He has written video games, plays, and has had short stories published in such magazines as “The Colored Lens” and “Science Fictionery.” Doug is the author of the non-fiction books, THE THREE STAGES OF SCREENWRITING and co-author, with producer Ken Aguado, of THE HOLLYWOOD PITCHING BIBLE.
This year, we are thrilled to have 2 Development Prize Partners!
A minimum of 1 project will be selected by Development Prize partner Midnight Lantern Productions, who will select one project from the Launch Pad Feature competition to develop with the writer(s).
Midnight Lantern Productions brings passionate and diverse voices to light. Founded by Daniel Leighton and Kaiulani Bush, they are a start-to-finish production company that champions artists through the creative, physical and post-production process. Daniel Leighton is an award winning creative producer of feature and short films, digital content, music videos and commercials. His films have been shown on HBO, Amazon, Funny or Die, Short of the Week and have played at countless festivals throughout the world. Kaiulani Bush is a committed producer with years of experience executing projects with precision and personality. Her knowledge gained from studio projects such as “Arrested Development”, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, “King Richard” and “Oppenheimer” is now being applied to the independent world that allows more freedom in the creative process.
A minimum of 1 project will be selected by Development Prize partner Cosmic Arena Productions, who will select one project from the Launch Pad Feature competition to develop with the writer(s).
Tim Sullivan is the founder of Cosmic Arena Productions, launched in 2023 following extensive experience producing over 30 features that have grossed over a billion dollars at the box office and attracted multiple Academy Award nominations. Tim began his career at Emmett/Furla Films, where he quickly rose from assistant to President of Production and Development. At EFF, Tim shepherded films including Fire with Fire (starring Josh Duhamel and Bruce Willis), End of Watch (with Jake Gyllenhaal and Woody Harrelson), Joe Carnahan’s Boss Level (starring Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts), the Escape Plan series with Sylvester Stallone, and Heist (with Robert De Niro and Dave Bautista). Throughout his career, Tim has worked with filmmakers such as Stephen Frears, Peter Berg, Balthasar Kormakur as well as Martin Scorsese on his most recent films, Silence and The Irishman. In 2021, Tim joined Voltage Pictures where he produced the action/thriller Aftermath (with director Patrick Lussier), and set up a slate of features that are now in preproduction.
Requires Add-On or Top 10 placement
This year’s Guaranteed Signing partner is manager Andrew Kersey of Kersey Management, who will select a minimum of one (1) writer from the competition to sign as a client.
Andrew Kersey is a literary manager with a focus on nurturing unique storytelling voices in film and TV. In 2021, his client’s comedy VACATION FRIENDS starring John Cena and Lil Rel was Hulu’s biggest 3-day weekend opener for an original in the streamer’s history at the time. The sequel just wrapped. Another recent success is the sale of his client’s sci-fi spec, VARIETAL, to Universal with Mike De Luca, the Oscar-nominated producer behind THE SOCIAL NETWORK and the FIFTY SHADES OF GREY movies. His incredibly talented clients have projects at all the major studios as well as streamers Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. In TV, his clients have sold projects to and worked for networks and cable channels such as ABC, Fox, NBC, CW, AMC’s ALLBLK, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and WGN America. His clients’ projects have been packaged — and many sold — with such top tier talent as Sandra Bullock, The Rock, Lil Rel, Chris Pratt, Anna Faris, Ice Cube, Sylvester Stallone, Zach Galifianakis, Maggie Q and Adam Scott.
Requires Add-On or Top 10 placement
If you select any add-ons at the time of entry, regardless of where you place in the competition, you will still be in the running for those add-on features.
The winners will be chosen based on the following criteria: (i) The originality and commerciality of the premise; (ii) The effectiveness of the plot and structure in serving that premise; (iii) The professional quality and creative use of the writing, formatting and presentation; (iv) The use of dialogue to advance the character, story and entertainment value of the project; (v) The originality, believability and emotional investment in the characters and their impact on the overarching story and themes.
Initial reads will be completed by professional industry readers, after which the top scored scripts will be named to a Second Round. At this point, our internal team of readers will read all remaining submissions to allow for extensive internal discussions over the relative merits and weaknesses of each project. Through internal conferences, we narrow down a list of 100 finalists. At this point, writers may be asked to submit supplemental information (a brief bio, a bible for their tv pilot, etc.) to assist in the decision making process.
Further rounds of internal reading and discussion, as well as consultations with our signing and development prize partners, narrows the finalists down to 10, at which point our panel of industry judges read the scripts and determine our winners.
Any entrant may be deemed ineligible at the sole discretion of Launch Pad. We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time.